In my last blog, I mentioned that I had added larger portions of complex carbohydrates to what I ate in exchange for cutting out sugar from my everyday eating. By doing this, I unexpectedly lost weight. So in today’s blog, let’s discuss what caused this.

GLYCEMIC INDEX AND GLYCEMIC LOADWhen you consume carbohydrates, your body produces insulin. And insulin is often nicknamed the “fat storage hormone”. However, not all carbohydrates are the same and a key difference comes from where they lie on the glycemic index (GI) and the glycemic load (GL) which adjusts for a standard portion size of that food.

Low GI foods, when consumed produce a small rise in blood glucose levels. Your body produces less insulin in response to the lower blood glucose levels. Conversely, high GI foods produce a higher rise in blood glucose levels. Your body produces more insulin to get the blood glucose level back to its optimal range. In the latter case, this means more glucose is stored away as fat in the body’s pool of fat cells.

COMMON MEAL TIME CARBS VS. SNACK TIME SWEETSWhat did I do? Quite simply, I added more meal friendly carbs like potatoes and peas and cut back on snack time sweets and candy.

While most people would say that this would be obvious, let’s do just a quick comparison to show why this isn’t so straight forward.

If you look at the table above, it is clear that by volume, I was eating more food by introducing more peas and potatoes versus seven tiny sweets. However, comparing standard portions of peas and potatoes to the sweets, the former had generally less carbohydrates than the sweets. The glycemic index was also lower, as was the glycemic load. So swapping out my nightly sweets for extra peas and potatoes changed my body’s insulin response. Therefore, although foods like the potato with butter was higher calories than the seven small sweets, it did not lead to weight gain as one would have expected.

On a regular basis, I ensure that when I have carbohydrates, I combine them with protein, vegetables and oil. Why is this important? For that, here’s how combining food groups can change the glycemic index of the meal. Here’s a simple example using potatoes.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE GLYCEMIC INDEX WHEN DIFFERENT FOODS ARE EATEN TOGETHER?

Pure oils and fats, including butter are not on the glycemic index because they do not have carbohydrates. This also means that when I have the potato with butter or olive oil, the average glycemic index of the meal is lower. This combination results a slower surge in my blood glucose levels compared to when I have the plain potato on its own. When I have the potato with the skin, the skin takes a longer time to digest and results in yet a slower surge in blood glucose levels and insulin. The same effect happens when you add protein to your meals.

HOW TO LOWER THE GLYCEMIC INDEX IN EVERYDAY MEALSWhen I discovered this, I changed how I ate. I used to eat mostly carbohydrates and vegetables, and used to restrict the amount of fat in my diet. Then I started ensuring that nearly every meal I ate contained a fair size of protein, along with some carbohydrates and good quality oils. While eating a balanced meal is important, I realized that this way of eating would allow me to eat a wider variety of foods and food groups, stay full and not suffer wild swings in my blood glucose levels.If you are a pasta or pizza fiend, what can you do if you can’t give these up? If you are going to order the pizza or pasta dish, add a salad with extra roast chicken, turkey, beef or eggs. Eat a quarter or half at the most of the pasta or pizza dish. If you are out with friends, share the pizza and pasta. If you on your own, save the rest of your pasta or pizza for later.

Here’s an additional example if you like your Asian noodles. On the days I feel like having noodles and I am out, I usually ask for extra portions of meat, fish and vegetables to be added to the dish and pay extra for these. Most of the time, I may not finish all the noodles as I have already filled up on the extra protein and vegetables.

Wanted to know the additional benefits of eating this way? Read my next blog!

Thank you for reading my blog! :)

Title Photograph: Courtesy of Thanksgiving-Stock-Free-Image-08112015-image-182

It is so hard to lose weight. For many years now, I have tried to lose weight because for my age and height, I am considered to be obese. I hate how my body looks and I always feel self-conscious because of my weight. I tried going to the gym, but to my dismay, I was not able to achieve the body that I want. Losing weight is all about determination and discipline which is why I am now exerting double the effort that I exerted before.